In Sickness and in Health
by Bumi the Non-Bender
Summary: After a long week, it'd be nice for Lin to relax with her hubby. Right? Not when he has the flu! [Lin and Bumi have been married for irrelevant amount of time in this fic]


In Sickness and in Health

After a murderous – somewhat literally – week at work, Lin was finally off for the next few days because of the holiday weekend. All she wanted to do was get home, sit on the couch with Bumi, have a cold one, and then maybe something more later on after that. She walked begrudgingly up the stairs to her door, her armor weighing her down and making every footfall heavy.

She opened the door and bent it closed behind her before she dumped her armor unceremoniously by the hall tree that held her overcoat, sweater, etc. as well as Bumi's jackets. Lin walked through the hall, on the prowl for Bumi. Her steps now light as a feather when compared to just a few moments ago. The small patting of her bare feet on the tile at each step the only sound in the house. Normally when she came home, Bumi was in the kitchen or on the couch – sometimes listening to the radio. But today he was nowhere to be seen or heard.

Lin peeked into the living room, seeing the chair he favored empty. She turned around and looked over into the kitchen, no sign. She pensively tapped her chin before hearing a wheezing cough from the bedroom. She whirled around on her heel and walked quickly to the door, opening it just as swiftly.

Before her, tucked in bed with a bright red nose and bloodshot eyes, was her husband. The tissue box next to him long since empty and the small garbage can at the side of the bed overflowing. "Bumi… You look like crap." she stated with her usual eloquence.

He looked back at her with a slight smile, nose running. He sniffled, "I- I didn't want to get you sick." He coughed into his fist violently, the entire bed practically shaking from the act. Bumi pulled the blanket up over his chest and letting his head fall back into the pillow.

Lin sighed, 'So much for the long weekend…' she thought to herself. She walked over to the bed and picked up the trashcan with her bending, not wanting to touch the tissues with her hands. "I'll be back in a minute. Uh… don't go anywhere?" she walked off and threw the tissues into a larger trash bag and grabbed a new box of tissues. She stopped into the kitchen and set the tea kettle to boil before heading back to him.

"Lin, you-" he coughed again into his elbow, "you should go out tonight. Stay away. I don't want you to get-" she glared at him, silencing the words before they left his sore throat. She set the trash can beside the bed and opened the new box of tissues for him, taking one out and wiping his nose.

"Blow." she commanded as she held it in place for him. He didn't fuss, trying to blow out his nose for her. She shook her head softly as she heard his congestion. "How long have you felt like this?"

"A couple days…" he admitted, averting his watery eyes from her gaze. She threw away the tissue into the bin before grabbing another.

"Again." she held it for him. He looked at her pleadingly.

"I'm not a _child_…" he pouted, but did as he was told. She grabbed a third tissue and dabbed at his eyes softly. She'd not cared for someone like this in ages… the last time would have been when she was no more than eight or nine and Su had a cold. Toph could do some things for illness, but proper care was hard when you could only see from earthbending. Whenever Lin had been sick she had to be cared for by someone else for the most part.

She leaned down and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. He was warm to the touch, clearly running a sizeable fever. "You might as well be in _this_ state." she stroked his hair softly and looked at him with concern that was only seen in the eyes of a mother or a wife. She stood, walking into the bathroom and running the cold water. Lin opened the cabinet, taking a face cloth out and getting it wet. She wrung out the excess water into the basin and turned the water back off. Heading back into the bedroom she folded the face cloth and wiped softly at his brow and forehead before placing it there.

The kettle whistled in the kitchen and she looked once more at him as she stood to leave. She was stopped by a small tug on her hand and turned to see Bumi looking lovingly at her. "You have wonderful eyes…" he commented out of the blue. "I love you."

"You've lost your mind… I love you too." she chuckled and walked out as soon as he let go of her hand. She took a cup from the cupboard and set it on the counter. Skillfully, she bent the kettle up and tipped it so the liquid poured out and into the cup. She set it back on the stove top and returned to Bumi with the steaming beverage.

Lin took the face cloth off him, the heat from him having been pulled into it. She set it aside on the night stand and smiled. She blew across the tea to cool it down before touching the edge to his lips and placing her other hand behind his head. "Just a little. Theeeeere you go."

He looked at her, having never seen her _this_ compassionate before. It melted his heart, the tears in his eyes no longer from being ill but from pure love. The tea felt nice, even if Lin was still fairly bad at making it taste as nice as Bumi could. But the way she made it and the care she put into having him drink made it the best damn cup of tea Bumi had ever had in his life. She noticed the tears in his eyes and mistook them for just them being watery like before, gingerly dabbing them with a tissue.

He was given another sip of tea before she set it on the night stand. Lin sat next to him and cradled his head to her chest. She rubbed his neck, the muscles sore from the sickness. He couldn't help but groan softly from it. Rubbing gently but firmly, she knew what she was doing. Lin never – _never –_ gave massages before Bumi. She was always too rough whenever she had tried and ended up just leaving bruises. Something about him made her softer, gentler, as a person. In private, that is. And it also helped that he often would give her a massage after a hard day, her armor pinching a muscle in her neck or back. Lin picked up a few tricks from his example.

She worked his neck and shoulders for quite some time before his head leaned back onto her collarbone and he looked into her eyes. She stopped trying to massage there and placed her fingers on his temples, rubbing there instead. He sighed softly and closed his eyes, knowing he'd never in a million years convince her to not worry about him and take the night off for herself.

In a few minutes the exhaustion from being ill overwhelmed Bumi in conjunction with Lin's gently ministrations, and he fell asleep. The congestion was still there, causing him to snore lightly. Lin's arms held him, her hands on his chest, rubbing sweetly. She craned her head down and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. It was only 8 o'clock at night, but she ended up sitting there the entire night. She fell asleep holding him, with her cheek resting on his hairline.


End file.
